Vegetarian Couscous Recipe. Meat and Poultry Variations.
Vegetarian Couscous is wonderful and fun
And Couscous is the rock star of Moroccan cuisine.
You can make couscous with many exciting vegetable combinations. Here are just two other combos for you, all delicious: Summer vegetable couscous
This vegetarian couscous makes a wonderful complete vegetarian meal. You will love it even if you are a die hard meat eater.
But wait! scroll down: I am including meat and poultry variation.
Couscous is native to Morocco, and the word refers to both the grain and the traditional dish made with the grain. It is semolina, or durum (the heart of the wheat kernel), ground to the consistency of coarse cornmeal and mixed with flour and just enough water to make small grains, about the size of millet grains. These plump grains are then dried, preferably in the hot sun. Prepared couscous is very easy to find in bulk at most health food and grocery stores. Let me reassure you, you won’t need to do any of this:
Beautiful, plump, and no-cooking, ready-to-use couscous is available everywhere.
Sometimes grain sold as couscous is actually a couscous-shaped (usually larger) pasta, affectionately called Israeli couscous, which is not suitable in traditional couscous recipes. Although the combinations of vegetables and meats vary greatly, the structure of the dish called couscous always remains the same. We love to make this “sweet couscous” on Rosh Hashanah, to usher in a sweet new year. It is the custom for some Jews not to use any nuts during the Holiday of Rosh Hashanah: simply skip them.
My Vegetarian Couscous is a whole meal!
So do not get daunted by the lengthy ingredient list! This is Dinner!
Low-gluten and gluten-free couscous:
I make couscous with barley couscous for low gluten: Look for it in Indian grocery stores or online. I don’t recommend the whole-wheat couscous, as it has an objectionable somewhat-bitter aftertaste. Gluten-free: Try the wonderful brown rice couscous now on the market. You will also find it online. I just love to have couscous on hand, as it needs no cooking and is ready at the drop of a hat (instructions below) to throw in salads or vegetable burgers, or even dessert, sprinkled with a little Sucanat and cinnamon and mixed with a little oil or ghee, with a few golden raisins added.
My Vegetarian Couscous recipe is excerpted from my new cookbook: The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Pure and Simple.
There are many couscous combinations you can make. I am giving you here one of my favorite;
Scroll down for exciting Couscous variations!
Ingredients
Couscous vegetable mixture:
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 2 large onions, peeled and quartered
- 2 good pinches saffron threads
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 2 sticks cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- Salt to taste
- 2 pounds thin carrots, or butternut squash (unpeeled) cut into 2-inch chunks
- 3 cups dried fruit: raisins, apricots, prunes, in any combination you like (if you would rather choose just one kind, let it be the apricots)
- 1 cup canned chick peas
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 tablespoons orange flower water
Couscous grain:
- 3 cups couscous (NOT Israeli couscous)
- 3 cups boiling water
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup toasted whole or slivered blanched almonds
Instructions
Heat the oil in a heavy pot.
Coarsely grind the onions in a food processor and add to the hot oil. Reduce the flame to medium and fry until dark, stirring occasionally. This step will take about 20 minutes. Add the saffron, turmeric, cinnamon sticks, pepper, salt, carrots, and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil. Reduce to medium and cook covered for 30 minutes. Add all remaining ingredients and cook 15 more minutes.
While the dish is cooking, prepare couscous grain:
Place the grain in a stainless steel bowl—with the oil, salt and pepper, and water—and mix thoroughly. Immediately cover very tightly with 2 layers of foil. Let the mixture rest 15 minutes, then fluff it with 2 forks until the grains are separated.
To serve: Pour the couscous grain in the bottom of a platter. Pour some of the cooking broth evenly on the grain, only as much as the grain will absorb. Don’t allow a mushy or soupy look. Arrange vegetables and fruit over the grain. Sprinkle the whole dish with the toasted almonds. Pass any remaining broth in a gravy boat. Serve with harissa on the side . Makes 8 ample servings.
Couscous Variations:
- You can play with different vegetables: Cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, zucchini etc.
- If you would like to include chicken: Add chicken legs, thighs, and half breasts (about 1 dozen pieces total) at the same time you add the saffron, turmeric, cinnamon sticks, pepper, salt, and carrots and bring the water to 3 cups. Cook covered for 1 hour. Add all remaining ingredients (dried fruit and spices) and cook 15 more minutes.
- If you would like to include beef, bison, or lamb (about 3½ pounds): Cook the meat in a separate pot in 6 cups water for 2 hours. Add the meat and its cooking liquids at the same time you add the saffron, turmeric, cinnamon sticks, pepper, salt, and carrots. Make sure you have enough liquids, add a little water if necessary to a total of about 3 cups. Cook covered for 1 hour. Add all remaining ingredients (dried fruit and spices) and cook 15 more minutes.
Dear Levana,
your blog and recipes are wonderful. I cooked a lot of them (to be more exact, this one, harissa, tzimmes, sweet potato tajine, Morrocan fish soup, date nut bread, chocolate chip banana cake, etc) for this Rosh HaShana and Sukkos.
Thank you very, very much!
Best regards from Latvia
Thank you so much Chavah! Always great to hear:-))) Do you have my latest cookbook, the Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen? I think it’s a must. Available in EBook as well!
Thank you for the response! No, I don’t have your latest cookbook yet, but I also think it’s a must :D
Chavah You will love it, here is the link http://www.amazon.com/The-Whole-Foods-Kosher-Kitchen/dp/1467507040/ref=aag_m_pw_dp?ie=UTF8&m=A2DFWCVZ1SKGGW Be sure this is the link you use, hardcover
While studying abroad in France, I boarded with a Tunisian-born woman with whom I became quite close. I looked forward to her Shabbat couscous every week, and this recipe brought back really warm memories of my time with my host mother. I made the couscous with chicken and apricots and prunes–now that I know Levana’s trick to making the couscous grain, I hope to make it much more often. The couscous I had in France was more savory, but with dried fruit it’s very luxe–even if you have a sweet tooth, I think just a bit of dried fruit goes a long way. :) Don’t forget the toasted almonds in this recipe–they add the perfect crunch!